DCAU influences on mainstream comics
The DCAU, though it is primarily derivative of DC Comics, produced several creative innovations that were adapted into the mainstream comics and other media. Original Characters The following is a partial list of characters created for the DCAU who found their way into the mainstream comics: Lock-Up INCOMPLETE Harley Quinn See dedicated article: Harley Quinn Arguably the most successful “addition” to the mainstream comics is Harley Quinn, the Joker’s girlfriend. She was initially introduced in the episode "Joker’s Favor", voiced by Arleen Sorkin. The character quickly became hugely popular Comics INCOMPLETE DC released a graphic novel collection, “Batman: Harley Quinn” giving Harley’s “official” origin in the comics continuity. This origin is closely similar to that of “Mad Love.” Television A character named Dr. Harleen Quinzel was the main antagonist of the short-lived Birds of Prey live-action series, which takes place in a Gotham City after both Batman and the Joker have passed on. Posing as a legitimate psychiatrist, Harleen is secretly a criminal mastermind, seeking revenge against Gotham City as a whole, and especially against the Birds of Prey (who include Batman’s daughter by Selina Kyle), for Joker’s death. She was played in the un-aired pilot episode by Sherilyn Fenn, and in every episode thereafter by Mia Sara. Harley also appears as a character in the non-DCAU animated series The Batman; she is voiced by Hynden Walch, who voices the metahuman villainess Ace on and . Mercy Graves INCOMPLETE Character Revamps Mr. Freeze See dedicated article: Mr. Freeze In the comics, Mr. Freeze was originally a gimmicky, mad scientist character. The animated portrayal made him both more complex and more sympathetic, showing his “frozen” condition to be the result of a tragic accident involving his terminally ill wife. The comics Freeze’s origin was retconned to reflect this deeper history. The re-vamped comic book origin adds a backstory showing that Victor Fries was abused as a child, both by his father and by childhood bullies. As an escape, he developed a habit of freezing insects and live animals in jars of water, because, as he explained to a psychiatrist, he liked to preserve them as they looked, unchanged and beautiful. Meeting Nora in college, the shy boy fell passionately in love. As in the animated series, when Nora fell ill, he froze her while looking for a cure for her condition, and suffered the accident when his corporate employers attempted to shut her capsule down. In a confrontation between Batman and Mr. Freeze, Freeze inadvertently blasted Nora’s cryo-capsule, causing it to shatter. Blaming Batman for his wife’s death, Freeze swore revenge. Batman and Robin Mr. Freeze was one of the featured villains in the live-action film Batman and Robin, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger. The film’s storyline attempted to combine aspects of the animated Freeze’s tragic history with the mad scientist character of the early comics. In the film, Victor Fries is both an Olympic level athlete, and a brilliant scientist, who freezes his wife when she is diagnosed with a fictional disease called McGregor’s Syndrome. The accident in his lab which causes his condition is not blamed on any particular person. After the accident, he steals diamonds, both to power his cryo-suit, and to fund his research into a cure for his wife. After Batman foils Freeze’s plan to freeze all of Gotham, Batman reveals that he has saved Nora’s capsule from attempted sabotage by Poison Ivy, and offers to transfer the capsule to Freeze’s cell at Arkham, so he can continue his research. In exchange, Freeze gives Batman a cure for an early-stage version of McGregor’s, which Alfred is dying of. Despite the character’s tragic story, he commits his crimes in a flamboyant, cartoonish way quite unlike the animated Freeze, surrounded by hockey-playing thugs, and seemingly taking mad delight in his victims’ suffering. The incongruity between the two aspects of the character, combined with Schwarzenegger’s flat performance, was one of several likely reasons for the film’s poor reception. Category:Non-Canon articles